A Super Hero With Classical Chops

(By Gene Yraola)

NY Comic Con 2017 officially ended over the weekend to much fanfare and no shortage of fans dressing up as their favorite heroes. With classical musicians having such unique personalities, it begs to question why major publishers haven’t created many super heroes disguising as classical musicians as their alter egos.

Indeed, one true super hero has bore a classical instrument not only as part of their public persona but as an integral part of their super power, known to comic book fans everywhere as The White Violin.

Introduced in 2007’s The Umbrella Academy(published by Dark Horse Comics), a comic of power-induced yet socially awkward students banding together to save the world, character Vanya Hargreeves originally showcases no particular powers other than her interest in classical music. As the most isolated member of the super hero group, Vanya’s powers end up unleashed by her orchestra’s conductor, becoming the most powerful of the characters under the moniker The White Violin. Capable of releasing destructive waves of force using her violin strong enough to destroy an entire building, it’s safe to say The White Violin is a classical music super hero with quite the chops to play.

The Umbrella Academy is a massive commercial hit in the comic book world in addition to being critically applauded. The character The White Violin has become incredibly popular among comic book enthusiasts and is now a common sight to see in cosplayers (fans who dress up as their favorite characters at comic book conventions).

A Cosplayer dressed as The White Violin at Comic Con.

In addition to being an original, successful IP under a major publisher, The White Violin is the most significant super hero with a classical music background. Her use of the violin just adds to the character’s cool effect! What makes the character even more relevant to classical fans is the writers choice to not give the White Violin a dimension of tackiness or play off the negative classical musician stereotypes that most cartoonists choose to do (failingly).

With Universal Pictures picking up the rights to The Umbrella Academyand a finalized script rumored to finally be close at hand, The White Violin‘s popularity is only bound to break out a decade after her debut.